Air diffusing and water misting apparatus and method

ABSTRACT

An apparatus, system, and method for providing a fluid stream into an environment for cooling purposes are disclosed. Such an apparatus includes a body portion and a nozzle, the nozzle being adapted to direct water into the environment. Such an apparatus may include a body portion having a flow channel defined therein for gas flow therethrough; and, a nozzle operatively disposed within the flow channel; said nozzle adapted to direct a liquid therefrom; wherein the channel and the nozzle are operatively disposed relative to each other so that a gas flowing through the channel and the liquid are combined into a fluid stream directed from the apparatus into the surrounding environment.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Designapplication Ser. No. 29/279,246, filed 24 Apr. 2007, entitled “AIRDIFFUSING AND WATER MISTING APPARATUS”; the subject matter of whichhereby being specifically incorporated herein by reference for all thatit discloses and teaches.

BACKGROUND

Apparatuses and methods hereof relate generally to air diffusing andwater misting apparatuses and/or methods and systems thereof, and moreparticularly to apparatuses or devices that can be used to diffuse airand water in a residential or commercial setting, to distribute ordisperse a misted stream of water, typically of tiny water droplets,into the air and thereby cool the local environment.

Evaporative cooling involves the evaporation of a liquid, often in thesurrounding air, cooling the surrounding air and thereby the environmentin which the liquid has evaporated. One very basic example ofevaporative cooling, sweat, involves the body's secretion of what isprimarily water, which evaporates off the body and ultimately cools thesweating person. In the context of the present development, the liquidthat will evaporate is projected into the ambient air in such a mannerthat it readily evaporates, cooling the air and environment into whichit is projected.

The principle of evaporative cooling is put to use in a number ofapplications for cooling ambient air. Small-scale evaporative coolers,sometimes called swamp coolers or sump coolers, can be used inresidential and certain commercial settings. Wet cooling towers and airwashers also use the principle of evaporative cooling, but for differentpurposes than evaporative coolers. As is relevant here, one applicationof the principle of evaporative cooling is the misting system.

A typical misting system will involve water forced through ahigh-pressure pump and tubing through a nozzle with a narrow orifice,creating an exceptionally fine mist at the egress point of the nozzle.The mist contains water droplets so small that they may flash evaporate,absorbing the heat from the air, and reducing the surrounding airtemperature rapidly and dramatically. Such a system may be mounted awayfrom the final target area, to cool the air at the target area withoutnecessarily exposing the objects or people in the target area to themist. Such a system may be used indoors or outdoors.

The various devices and/or methods for dispersing water in a stream ofair, some of which are illustrated above, may have to be tailored to theparticular application. Due to the nature of some of the devices and/ormethods, some do not offer appropriate control over the stream of wateror the placement of the various components of the apparatus. In manysuch situations, these prior methods require undue modification toavoid, i.e., inadvertently getting the occupants of the environmentunduly wet.

SUMMARY

Disclosed here are apparatuses and methods for air diffusing and watermisting, and more particularly, apparatuses or devices that can be usedto distribute air and water in a residential or commercial setting, todisperse a diffused stream of water into the air for cooling purposes.An apparatus hereof may include a body portion for holding a nozzle, thebody portion having an external portion and an internal, often movableportion, and a support mechanism within the internal circular portion tosupport the nozzle. The apparatus may also include a pump mechanismoperatively connectable to the body portion, the pump mechanism adaptedto provide a stream of water of the necessary pressure to enablesuitable misting. The body portion may also be disposed, in singular orin plural, in an array to be mounted in a suitable location within anenvironment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Apparatuses and methods hereof will be better understood by reference tothe following more detailed description and accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 provides a first, back-side isometric view of an air diffusingand water misting apparatus hereof;

FIG. 2 provides a second, front-side isometric view of an air diffusingand water misting apparatus hereof;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of air diffusing and water mistingapparatuses like those of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of an air diffusing and water mistingapparatus like that of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of an air diffusing and water mistingapparatus like those of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 6 is a back-side isometric view of an alternative air diffusing andwater misting apparatus;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the air diffusing and water mistingapparatus of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a bottom plan view of the air diffusing and water mistingapparatus of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is top plan view of the air diffusing and water misting apparatusof FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is an isometric view of a wall unit incorporating two airdiffusing and water misting apparatuses hereof;

FIG. 11 is an isometric view of a wall unit incorporating four airdiffusing and water misting apparatuses hereof;

FIG. 12 is an isometric view of an alternative apparatus including waterline and ceiling mount;

FIG. 13 is another isometric view of an alternative apparatus includingceiling mount;

FIG. 14 is a schematic representation of some functional elementsaccording to an implementation hereof; and,

FIG. 15, which includes subpart FIGS. 15A, 15B and 15C, providesschematic views of some alternative implementations hereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Described here are apparatuses and methods for air diffusing and watermisting, and more particularly apparatuses or devices that can be usedto diffuse air and water in a residential or commercial setting,particularly to distribute or disperse a misted stream of water into adiffused air stream for cooling purposes. Methods for use of suchapparatuses are also described.

Accordingly, such an apparatus 100 is illustrated, for a first examplein FIGS. 1 through 5. The apparatus 100 may advantageously be used forair diffusing and water misting and may be particularly adapted for usein either an indoor our outdoor environment. As such, the apparatus 100may provide for controlled delivery of a diffused stream of water,typically a fine mist, to the surrounding environment, which may providefor desirable cooling effects.

An apparatus 100 for misting water in a diffused air stream accordinghereto may in many implementations be characterized as having a firstoperational end 101, generally the intake end for both air and water,and a second operational end 102, generally the end through which themisted water and diffused air egress from the apparatus 100 and enterthe environment. The first end 101 may also be referred to herein as aback-side and the second side 102 as a front-side.

The apparatus 100 may include an outer body portion 110 and an innerbody portion 120, as shown for example in FIGS. 1 and 2 (noting that insome alternatives only a single body portion may be used, see fornon-limiting example, FIGS. 12 and 13 described below). The outer bodyportion 110 may form the framework within which the inner body portion120 is disposed. The outer body portion 110 may have several subparts,such as a ring portion 130, an inner lip portion 140, and an outer lipportion 150. The ring portion 130 may, as shown, form the circumferenceof the apparatus 100. The inner lip portion 140 extends away from theplane of the ring portion 130 and towards the first end 101 of theapparatus 100, forming what is shown here as a circular ‘wall’ at anapproximate right angle to the plane of the ring portion 130. The outerlip portion 150 similarly extends away from the plane of the ringportion 130 and towards the first end 101 of the apparatus 100, therebyforming a smaller circular wall at an approximate right angle to theplane of the ring portion 130.

The inner portion 120 of the apparatus 100 may be adapted to be disposedwithin the outer portion 110. The inner portion 120 may either bemovably or fixedly disposed within the outer portion 110 (shown here maybe a non-limiting representation of a semi-spherical “eyeball”-typemoving mechanism of the inner portion 120 within the otherwisesubstantially stationary framework 110; although other inner and outermovement mechanisms for a movable inner portion 120 may alternatively beused). The inner portion 120 may include a partially circular exteriorportion 160 and an interior portion 170. The curved nature of theexterior portion 160 may allow the inner portion 120 to move within theouter portion 110 of the apparatus 100. The interior, generally hollowedportion 170 of the inner portion 120 may have or form a concave openingportion 180 at or near the first end 101 and a substantially cylindricalportion 190 at or near the second end 102. Furthermore at or near thesecond end 102 of the apparatus 100, the inner portion 120 may have alip 195 (see FIG. 2). The semi-spherical and substantially cylindricalsections 170, 180 and 190 (and lip 195) may thus define the air flowpassage through the device 100.

The nozzle portion 200 of the apparatus 100 may be disposed to runsubstantially longitudinally through the interior portion 120,particularly within the air flow portion 170, and in the shownimplementation, through substantially the center of the interior and airflow portions 120 and 170. The nozzle portion 200 may be or present assubstantially cylindrical, as shown or may be of some other nozzleshape, whether reducing or expanding (or both) in cross-sectionaldiameter. The nozzle portion 200 is here held in place by an arrangement210 of one or more arms (see e.g., FIG. 4), generally; but, morespecifically in the FIGS. 1 and 2, here, a first arm 210 a, a second arm210 b, a third arm 210 c, and a fourth arm 210 d. The four arms 210 a-dmay, as shown in this implementation but, not by way of limitation, beperpendicular to each other and perpendicular to the nozzle portion 200and the longitudinal axis of the inner portion 120. More or fewer armsmay be used, or other structures, not necessarily arms, straight orotherwise, may be used to dispose the nozzle in the air flow channel 170of the device 100.

In operation, water is then flowed through the nozzle 200 from theback-side 101 toward the front-side 102; while typically also, air maybe flowed through the airflow channel 170, also from the back-side 101toward the front-side 102. The nozzle then provides for small dropletsof water, typically in a mist form, that can then be carried on adiffusing air stream exiting the device 100 out the front-side 102thereof. Such an air stream can then be used to deliver the water mistin a desirable direction, and with a desirable, air speed controlled,velocity and/or distance. Otherwise the air stream can itself be cooledby the mist evaporating therein, the cooler air then being flowed ordirected to a desired location. Better control of the cooling effect maythus be provided. Moreover, the present developments may reduce ambienttemperature by as much as 20 degrees (e.g., more often outdoortemperatures), while substantially keeping surfaces and people cool anddry. The positioning and placement of one or more of the devices maytypically be integrated into surroundings, often not merely suspended orplaced in a space (although see alternatives below), such as a mistingline or fans would be. A movable inner portion 120, if used, may bedirected or focused to provide the combined air and water stream to adesired location. An eyeball-type inner portion 120 may provide a widevariety of directionality for such a directed stream. The devices hereofmay typically be durable and easy to access for cleaning and servicepurposes. They may be suitable for placement in commercial orresidential settings, or any other installation environment.

The devices and systems hereof may generally utilize low-flow,high-pressure misting combined with a high velocity air delivery system.This method of delivery will typically use a fraction of the water of atypical missing system. The high-velocity air output assists theevaporative process, and may be adapted so that the cool air maydecelerate to a target velocity at the target area. The system may alsobe adapted to use energy and resources sparingly. Furthermore, the useof standard electrical voltage and models that can plug into a wall mayprovide ease of installation and operation.

An apparatus 100 hereof can be constructed in any suitable and/orconventional manner, in one non-limiting example, by injection molding,using any suitable and/or conventional materials, again, in somenon-limiting examples, high-impact plastic or acrylic. Other materialsand construction methods could alternatively be used. The outer portion110, inner portion 120, and nozzle portion 200 may be pre-molded in asimilar or dissimilar fashions, and may be pre-made together, or broughttogether after separate prior forming of each of two or more discretelymanufactured parts.

As was generally true for the apparatus 100 of FIGS. 1-5, the apparatus100 in FIG. 6 includes a connectability of the nozzle to a water source,here using one or combination or a series of nuts 220 a, 220 b and 220c, at the first end 101 of the nozzle 200. The nuts 220 a, 220 b and 220c may provide the function of attaching to a water line, not shown herebut see FIGS. 14 and 15 below, bearing pressurized water, to the nozzle200. An exemplar distance by which the first nut may extend beyond theplane of the first end 101 of the apparatus 100 is illustrated in FIG.7. A first end view of the apparatus 100 showing the nut positioned incongruity to the nozzle 200 is illustrated in FIG. 8, and a second endview of the apparatus 100 showing the nut positioned in congruity to thenozzle 200 is illustrated in FIG. 9.

It may be noted that the apparatuses of any of FIGS. 1-9 may thus have awater line attached to the nozzle; however, the air intake is notdirectly shown. An exemplar usage may include fixing the device 100 oneor adjacent a forced air ductwork, not shown here, but see FIG. 15described in more detail below, providing an egress point forpressurized air flowing through such a duct work. Alternatively, one ormore devices may be disposed to receive air in alternative manners; seealso FIG. 15, below.

In view hereof, FIG. 10 illustrates another implementation of anapparatus hereof, here, as a wall-mount unit 300. Two of the apparatuses100 are shown disposed on/within the wall mount unit 300. Each apparatus100 is mounted on/in the wall unit 300, which can then be mounted on theinterior or exterior surface of a building wall or hung from a ceiling,e.g. An exemplar mounting may include apparatus 100 being affixed to thewall unit through screws 310 a, b, and c, driven through the circularring 130 of the apparatus 100 and serving to fixedly adhere the circularring 130 of the apparatus to the wall mount unit 300, ring 130 thusholding frame portion 110 substantially stationary relative to themounting unit 300. Note that the inner portion 120 of the apparatus 100,not being fixedly mounted to the wall mount unit 300, may still movewithin the outer portion 110 to thus still provide directionalalternatives for the air and water stream emitted therefrom. The secondend 102 of the apparatus 100 is thus presented outwardly, here, visible,as is the exit portion of the nozzle 200 disposed therein. The wallmount unit 300 may be affixed on or near a wall or other surface of abuilding, typically near enough to a wall to permit connection of thewater line, but far enough away to allow for the free circulation ofambient air. Note, air intake for such a unit can either be by way of aductwork as above and relative to FIG. 15 below, or more typically, oneor more fans, not shown here, but see FIG. 15 below, may be included tobring in ambient air so long as the mounting unit 300 is disposedsufficiently far from a wall. Note, fan usage is described furtherbelow.

In FIG. 11, a similar wall mount system 400 is illustrated, againtypically far enough away from the wall on which it is mounted to permitfree circulation of ambient air from behind the mounting system 400 toallow air to enter the back-side 101 for flow through the device 100,back to front. In this wall mount system 400, there are four of theapparatuses 100, mounted at a suitable distance from each other to allowfor effective dispersion of the misted water.

FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate a different variety of apparatus 500 butstill within the scope hereof. In this version, the overall device maybe made of a single molded piece, without the two-piece, eyeball-typemotion of the device shown in FIGS. 1-9 (e.g., only a single bodyportion, not two or more). The rotation of the stream outlet fordirectional control of this device might then come from the way it ismounted. In FIG. 12, the mounting bracket 510 may be rotatably attachedto the body of the apparatus 500 at least at point 520 a (shown) and 520b (not shown) and rotatably attached to the ceiling at point 530. Thenozzle 540 is visible in both FIG. 12 and FIG. 13; in FIG. 12, the mistof water 550 is also visible. The attachments of the apparatus 500 tothe mounting bracket 510 at points 520 a and 520 b may allow theapparatus 500 to move in a vertically arced manner such a way that thenozzle 540 and with it the mist of water 550 may be angled either moretoward or more away from the ceiling. The mount 530 may allow theapparatus 500 to be moved laterally so that the nozzle 540 and with itthe mist of water 550 may be angled in any position defined by a circleof rotation about point 530 to reach a desired target.

The apparatuses 500 illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13 also show utilizationof a different air flow or pumping mechanism than the apparatusdescribed earlier. Shown in FIG. 12 are a water line 560 feedingdirectly into the apparatus 500 (as ultimately connected on theback-side with the nozzle 540, to feed water to the nozzle 540), and anelectrical wire 570 leading directly to the apparatus 500. The apparatus500 may contain an internal fan, not shown, to provide a flow of airthrough the air flow channel and thus capture and carry the atomizedwater from the apparatus 500. In a functional alternative, the flow ofair forced by the internal fan may assist in creating the smaller waterdroplets, i.e., helping to atomize the water within the apparatus 500.In such case, the incoming water entering through the water line 560 mayor may not need to be pressurized or need a small nozzle orifice, due tothe potential for air flow assistance in creating tiny water dropletsfor dispersion. In any case, the incoming water entering through thewater line 560 may either be atomized by the internal fan, or merelycarried by the air flow caused by the fan, and thereafter issue from thenozzle 540 and device 500 as a mist of water 550.

FIG. 14 illustrates a method of delivery of the water in certainimplementations. The water source 600 delivers water to thehigh-pressure misting pump 610. The high-pressure misting pump sendspressurized water through a water line 620, e.g., high pressure nylontubing, and into the delivery apparatus, system or array 630 to providefor an issuance of a stream of mist 640. A power and/or control station650 is also shown in FIG. 14 representing the power supply to the pump610 and/or the misting units particularly if fans or other electricalmeans are included therewith.

The high-pressure misting pump of FIG. 14 may have some or all of thefollowing features. The pump may operate on a high pressure/low flowpumping system, at about 800-1000 psi operating pressure. The pump mayhave features that are standard to the industry, such as a 120 volt wallplug-in, a 5 micron filter, and a standard hose bib water connection.The placement of the pump may be away from the operating environment tominimize exposure to the elements. The pump's relatively simple designshould require minimum maintenance. A single pump can support multipleports through which the water is atomized.

The nozzle, as in any of the previous nozzles described herein, may haveone or more of the following features. The shape of the nozzle orificemay be small, to produce extremely small water droplet size tofacilitate atomization. The nozzle may have a ruby tip to preventorifice erosion. The orifice may have multiple sizes, such as 0.003″,0.004″, 0.006″, 0.008″, to suit a variety of conditions andenvironments. The nozzle may have an about 100 psi check valve and anabout 600-1000 psi operating pressure. A filter insert may help resistclogging, and the nozzle may be designed for easy finger tightreplacement.

FIG. 15, see sub-parts 15A, 15B and 15C, includes three non-limitingvariations on systems for implementations hereof. As introduced aboveand shown in FIG. 15A, a device 100 can be implemented in associationwith a ductwork 701 of an air (or other gaseous) supply system 700. Afan or other movement sub-system 711 may be used to move the air in theductwork 701 to and ultimately through the device 100. A water supply600 is shown schematically providing water (or other cooling fluid) to awater line 620 for delivery to the nozzle 200. The water line may bealternatively entirely within the duct work (not shown), or entirelyoutside of the ductwork (providing to an external portion of the device100, also not shown), or may be as shown, partly exterior to and partlydisposed within the ductwork as by being passed through a hole therein.An air flow from the ductwork can then carry the mist from the nozzle,and particularly as may be variably directed, the device can be used forcontrolling the direction of delivery of the mist. The air flow rate canbe used also to provide a variable for the delivery of the distanceand/or speed of the mist.

The alternative of FIG. 15B involves no ductwork and an optional airsupply system 700 with optional fan 711. Note the fan may be disposed inthe mounting unit 300/400 (though not shown) or may be external thereto.Note the water supply and water line may be relatively easily connectedin this example. Also note the use of the mounting member 300 and/or 400in FIG. 15B. Though not shown in FIG. 15A, such a mounting member mightbe used there as well; however, with an otherwise pre-assembledductwork, the device might either be connected directly thereto, or toor on a wall behind which the ductwork may be disposed.

The alternative of FIG. 15C involves a relatively self-containedapparatus 500 like those of FIGS. 12 and 13. Here, it may be seen thatthe air supply 700 is incorporated in the form of a fan 711 disposedwithin the apparatus 500. The water supply 600 and water line 620 may bedisposed to provide water in a fashion like that schematically shownhere. Note the functional containment of air movement device 711 withinthe same apparatus as the nozzle 200 as shown her could also be usedwith the mounted unit assembly of FIG. 15B as well.

Having described a variety of implementations, numerous otheralternative implementations or variations might also and/oralternatively be made. Alternative implementations of the apparatus canbe variants on the shape, array, and arrangement so that the nozzle ornozzles and/or air flow devices and flow channels may be disposed in avariety of configurations.

The present apparatus has been described in detail including variousimplementations thereof. However, it should be appreciated that thoseskilled in the art, upon consideration of the present disclosure, maymake modifications and/or improvements on the apparatus hereof and yetremain within the scope and spirit hereof as set forth in the followingclaims.

1. An apparatus for providing a fluid stream into an environment, theapparatus comprising: a body portion having a flow channel definedtherein for gas flow therethrough; a nozzle operatively disposed withinthe flow channel; said nozzle adapted to direct a liquid therefrom;wherein the channel and the nozzle are operatively disposed relative toeach other so that a gas flowing through the channel and the liquid arecombined into a fluid stream directed from the apparatus into thesurrounding environment.
 2. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, whereinthe body portion includes two portions; an outer body portion; and aninner body portion adapted to be disposed on or within the outer bodyportion; wherein the inner body portion has the flow channel definedtherein between the first end of the apparatus and the second end of theapparatus.
 3. An apparatus as recited in claim 2, wherein the inner bodyportion is movable within the outer body portion to provide adirectional egress for the fluid stream.
 4. An apparatus as recited inclaim 1, wherein one or more arms are affixed to both the inner surfaceof the channel and to the nozzle to hold the nozzle in a fixed positionwithin the channel.
 5. An apparatus as recited in claim 3, wherein theouter surface of the inner body portion is rounded in a manner thatenables rotational movement within the outer body portion.
 6. Anapparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the nozzle is adapted to becoupled to a water line at the first end of the apparatus.
 7. Anapparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the apparatus is connected to amounting unit.
 8. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein theapparatus is operatively associated with a gas ducting system for theprovision of a gas flow thereto.
 9. An apparatus as recited in claim 1,wherein the apparatus is operatively associated with a fan for theprovision of a gas flow thereto.
 10. An apparatus as recited in claim 9,wherein the fan is disposed externally thereof.
 11. An apparatus asrecited in claim 9, wherein the fan is disposed therewithin. 12.(canceled)
 13. (canceled)
 14. A system for dispersing water into anenvironment, the system comprising: an apparatus for delivering thewater into the environment, the apparatus comprising: a body portionwith a channel between the first end of the apparatus and the second endof the apparatus; a nozzle operatively disposed within the channel; saidnozzle adapted to direct water through the second end of the apparatusinto the surrounding environment; a water line adapted for deliveringwater to the apparatus; and a propulsion mechanism for mixing air withthe water and directing the water into the surrounding environment. 15.A system according to claim 14, wherein the propulsion mechanism is awater pump.
 16. A system according to claim 14, wherein the propulsionmechanism is a fan.
 17. A method for delivering water into anenvironment, the method comprising: situating an apparatus for waterdispersion in an environment; channeling a stream of water through theapparatus via a nozzle disposed within the apparatus, directing thestream of water in a particular manner such that the air in theenvironment is cooled by the evaporative action of the water.
 18. Amethod according to claim 17, wherein the operation of directing thestream of water includes pumping the water through the nozzle.
 19. Amethod according to claim 17, wherein the operation of directing thestream of water includes fanning an air stream adjacent the water tocarry the water.
 20. A method according to claim 17, wherein the methodfurther comprises creating a mist of the water at the nozzle andevaporating the mist in air.